What My Soul Needed Today

What my soul needed today was to find a quiet spot and sit with my thoughts for a minute to write. However, what I received was much more magical. I am out shopping today on this lovely, early spring Sunday afternoon. There is still snow on the ground, but it's melting rapidly and the grass is peaking through. It was the first time in months that when I got to my car I removed my sweater and sat under a shade tree with the window rolled down bringing me back to my Southern California days with two sleepy little ones in the car while I sat and wrote and sipped on a latte. Today is also the first day since Fall began back in September that I ordered an iced caramel latte instead of the much needed body warming hot caramel latte. My iced coffee boldly staring spring right in the face. Ice cubes dancing around taunting the snow on the ground with their hot summer jingle. 

Everyone here in Wisconsin calls this "false spring" and they say things like, "don't jinx it by talking about it being spring" or "don't go messing it up by driving with your windows down talking about how warm the weather is." And we've seen enough "false springs" to know full well that much of the snow starts to melt in March only to be whacked in the face in late April by getting another dumping of snow that doesn't melt until May. In some cases, we received the most inches of snowfall at once for the entire year during the very last week of April. 

So I'm well aware there will most likely be more snow on the horizon, and we're certainly not putting away the snow gear anytime soon, but this sun and slight breeze with birds chirping is a much welcomed experience after having cold weather and mostly gloomy skies since October.  

Another bonus to this lovely experience today is that when I got back into my car with a warm personal sized pizza on naan bread, and my iced caramel latte with creamy oat milk, was that I happened to turn on our public radio station where the people were talking about how to find more inner peace and calmness. It was followed by a guided meditation, something I have not done, I realized, in a very long time. I certainly did not do them during the entire pandemic and now I'm seeing that I really should have been. But I was just in hour-to-hour survival mode with distance learning my three children. But I needed it. I needed stretching and breathing and movement and relaxation. We all do.

And I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply through my mouth. Then I breathed in even deeper, this time through my nose which is a cleansing breath, encouraged by the birds outside my window, ever present and in the moment. That is one thing we can learn from animals is how to be present and in the moment.

I closed my eyes and listened to her voice guiding all of us on our separate journeys and even though it was awkward and uncomfortable at first - it always is for me whenever I meditate, I finally found my groove and rhythm of my breathing.  Long breath in - long breath out. Breathe in through the nose and exhale out through the mouth. 

Namaste.